


On The Breeze Like Memories: Thank You Furuba Zine Piece

by KentuckyTheFried



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2001), Fruits Basket (Anime 2019)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Light-Hearted, No Angst, Picnics, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29638707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KentuckyTheFried/pseuds/KentuckyTheFried
Summary: During a school trip, Tohru takes Kyo, Uotani and Hana on a picnic to view the cherry blossoms. A promise is made that no matter what their past experiences were, they would all continue to make new memories together.My piece for the Thank You, Furuba Fruits Basket zine!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	On The Breeze Like Memories: Thank You Furuba Zine Piece

The class had walked to the cherry blossom park from a museum down the road. It had been something like a field trip, where they’d gone to the local exhibition to complete some small educational tasks before breaking off for lunch. Kyo wished they could’ve stayed inside the building, as boring as that had been. He could already feel his nose itching and his eyes watering from being outside in the pollen-filled air. Oblivious to his reaction, Tohru rushed past him, a large picnic basket draped over her right elbow. She wore a pink and white plaid summer dress today that complemented the cherry blossoms perfectly. The loose petals took to the wind with a quiet grace, whispering sweet nothings into the ears of those who chose to listen, and they fluttered past Tohru as they welcomed everyone into the park. 

“Look at the cherry blossoms!” Tohru exclaimed as she bounced around with an infectious excitement, “Oh, they’re so beautiful! It’s gonna be so hard choosing just one tree to sit under!”

“Just pick quickly or the rest of the class will take the good spots,” Uo chuckled as she and Hana walked past Kyo to meet up with Tohru. As Hana passed him, he crossed his arms over his chest and followed suit, but paused halfway when a small sneeze finally escaped his lips. He tried to act casual, like it hadn’t happened, but of course Uo noticed.

“Was that you who just sneezed?” She raised a curious eyebrow, “Jeez, never would’ve guessed it since it sounded so…”

“Like a kitten sneezed,” Hana had turned to make a comment, which made Kyo’s face go red with something between frustration and embarrassment, “I believe Tohru packed tissues if you need them, though.”

“I don’t sneeze like a kitten!!” Kyo yelled, covering his mouth and nose with the inside of his arm before pushing past them to follow Tohru. He could already feel another sneeze coming, but held his breath long enough for it to dissipate on its own. Thankfully Tohru had been far enough away that she hadn’t heard the exchange, though when Uo started to run to catch up he feared that she’d tell her everything. In retaliation he outran her and reached Tohru first. The breeze pushed him forward, urging him to win in their undeclared race, and for the briefest of moments a memory resurfaced. It wasn’t Uo running behind him, no, it was Kazuma. His laughter was light, free of burdens, free to take flight with the cherry blossom petals. The echo was brief, but it had struck his heart for too long, threatening to take his lead away from him. Kyo shook his head and kept up his pace. What he felt in that memory had died with his youth, and it was useless to think he could ever feel that carefree again.

After picking out the perfect tree, Tohru opened up the picnic basket and pulled out a large blanket to cloak the grass. The wind and its loyal servants, the cherry blossom petals, threatened to whisk the blanket away with a sudden burst of strength. Tohru yelped in surprise as the ends of the quilt flew to the side, but Kyo was quick enough to catch them and help her lay it down safely.   
“Hey, ya gotta be careful setting it down otherwise it’ll blow away!” Kyo warned her, the wind dying down as an apology.

“Maybe we can find some rocks around here to hold the corners down?” Tohru suggested as Uo and Hana caught up. They positioned themselves close to Tohru, where the shade of the cherry blossom trees could protect them from the sun. 

“I recall someone saying there was a pond in the northern part of the park,” Hana advised, “It shouldn’t be far from here, and I’d wager there’s more than a few stones suitable for this.”

“Well c’mon then, let’s leave them to it!” Uo smirked, and right as Kyo blinked she'd grabbed Hana's hand and begun towing her toward a dirt path leading further into the park." Tohru giggled to herself, a short and sweet melody to Kyo’s ears. 

“Well, until they come back, let’s just sit on opposite ends of the blanket so it doesn’t fly away!” She suggested.

“Uh, sure,” Kyo knew there had to be an easier solution, but he didn’t put time into thinking about it. Tohru had already hurriedly seated herself on one end of the blanket. Kyo did the same, though with less of a struggle. She sat with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap, while one of Kyo’s knees rested against the ground, the other propping up his right elbow.

“Goodness, I’m starving,” Tohru said, hoping to spark a conversation, “I made sure to pack all sorts of goodies so everyone has something they like!”

“Why don’t you start eating then?” Kyo asked.

“It’d be rude to start eating without Hana and Uo! I can wait for them, don’t worry!”

“But you said you’re starving. Would they really mind if you snuck a few bites of something?”

“They’ll be back before we know it. I can wait, I promise!”

Kyo rolled his eyes, knowing he couldn’t win in this argument. When his gaze returned to Tohru, he saw that her eyes had closed as she basked in the breeze that graced them once again, the faintest of smiles painted along her thin lips. She’d picked out pink hair ties for decoration to match the cherry blossoms. They tried so desperately to unwork themselves from their knots to join the petals that the wind whisked away, craving the adventure that came with the unknown. But in the end, they would never leave her. They held great meaning to her . They were her constant; they were rooted in her being deeper than the cherry blossoms were rooted to the earth.

“Found some!”

Before Kyo knew it, Hana and Uo had returned, each carrying three or four rocks that were cradled in their arms. Tohru jumped to her feet, taking some from Hana as she offered to lay them out on the blanket. Kyo’s ascent was slower, but eventually he took some from Uo, and together they decorated the edges of the blanket with the added weights. Now fixed down like the ribbons in Tohru’s hair, the blanket couldn’t be swept away on whatever adventure the wind whispered through its seams. 

“Alright! Now we get to eat,” Uo cheered, sitting down to Tohru’s left, “Hope you didn’t start without us!”

“Of course not!” Tohru opened up the picnic basket while Hana sat down next to Kyo, completing their circle formation. She pulled out an assortment of wrapped delicacies, and Kyo noticed they were all tied separately with different colored ribbons — pink, yellow, orange, black. Had she really color-coded their lunches? He cracked his knuckles without thinking, and as Tohru distributed their portions, he realized he was right. He only received the foods wrapped with orange bows. 

There was a relative silence between the group as they dug in. Kyo didn’t realize how hungry he’d gotten until he was delving into the sandwich Tohru had made. Almost as soon as it hit his tongue he realized that it was a fruit sandwich, and the sugary overload brought the faintest smile to his face. Sweet and light, like the summer breeze, like the sunlight they taken shelter from under the shade. He was never the biggest fan of sweets, but he decided to make this the exception.

“Man, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the cherry blossoms in action,” Uo commented with her mouth half full. From this angle Kyo couldn’t tell what was packed between her sandwich, but when he saw Tohru taking a sliding kiwi slice out of hers, he wondered if they’d all gotten the same thing. “I think last time I got to sit down and watch them like this was...back in middle school, with you and your mom.”

Kyo’s heart skipped a beat when Uo directed the latter half of her sentence towards Tohru, who smiled and nodded.

“I remember! We walked around at one point and found that abandoned beehive,” Tohru reminisced, “We wanted to try and find the bees that lived there, but we never found them.”

“That seems fairly reckless,” Hana said, though her tone was lighthearted, “Why would you want to look for the bees?”

“I was scared they were homeless since their hive was on the ground!”

“Coming from you, I’m not surprised.” She chuckled softly, taking another bite of her own sandwich. After she swallowed, she continued, “Let’s see...I don’t think I’ve visited the cherry blossoms of my own volition before. I never saw the appeal in watching something that is destined to die so soon.”

Tohru pulled more stuff from the picnic basket, a set of four fizzy drinks and a clear packet of rice balls. Kyo eyed the neatly made onigiri before she handed him one of the drinks.

“How about you, Kyo? Have you visited the cherry blossoms before?”

As Kyo took the beverage from her, he fiddled with the cap, shrugging. “Not really. Same boat as Hana-chan, I guess.”

He’d lied through his teeth with ease, and the bottle popped open with a satisfying hiss. In reality, he’d gone once before, a long time ago. He allowed the memory from earlier to come flooding back, all the smells of spring and the innocence that came with his childhood. Kazuma had taken him to a grand field surrounded by cherry blossoms in the name of finding inner peace and serenity. Kyo ran around playing for a bit before sitting down with Kazuma and trying to find enjoyment in the stillness. But the breeze had been too playful, the petals had whispered tales of imaginary adventures into his ears, and he had caved into their wishes. What he’d never expected was for Kazuma to fall to their demands as well; the two had ended up running around in the field and had let their laughter mingle with the wind, carried along by the spring. It was a memory that the wind carried even now, a memory that Kyo couldn’t relive.

Snapping back into reality, Kyo saw Hana staring at him, a slight perk to her eyebrow. Her lips pressed together like she wanted to say something, but she never did. Maybe she saw through his act — or rather, her waves sensed something off about him. Tohru was the next to speak, spine straightened completely as she announced her plan.

“Well, if you don’t have any memories yet, you can make some with us!”

“Hell yeah,” Uo agreed with a smile and a thumbs-up, “Let’s make this a day to remember!”

Hana only nodded, but she was grinning with an excitement that was uncharacteristic. Kyo was shocked to the point of stumbling over his words. They’d want to make memories with him willingly? They were so ready to accept him into their lives, into all the memories of this beautiful spring day? His stomach did a somersault as he forced another bite of his sandwich into his mouth, but he couldn’t help the grin that crept onto his lips. He swallowed, and the breeze pushed him to say something, anything. 

His response was simple.

“Just promise you won’t look for beehives again.”


End file.
